


Alive in Your Light

by ofthedells



Category: Bitterblue - Kristin Cashore, Fire - Kristin Cashore, Graceling - Kristin Cashore, Seven Kingdoms Trilogy - Kristin Cashore
Genre: AH - Freeform, Bitterblue - Freeform, Bitterblue and Saf, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cute, Dreams, F/M, Fluff, Holding Hands, Kissing, Music, Rain, Silly, Sleepy Cuddling, aw, bann and raffin, different stories, h my god, i just, i'm a mess, idk - Freeform, im so sorry, kil me, laughing, maybe? - Freeform, po and katsa, saf
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-26
Updated: 2015-08-04
Packaged: 2018-04-01 07:54:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4011835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofthedells/pseuds/ofthedells
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of short stories involving cute Bitterblue and Saf stories with possible other pairings involved >:)<br/>(Work in progress)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dreaming With You

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if this one is confusing :p I just wanted to capture the confusion and heightened emotions one experiences whilst dreaming.  
> (THIS FANFIC WAS INSPIRED BY THE SONG: 'For Emily, Whenever I May Find' by Simon and Garfunkel and I highly suggest that you listen to it while reading.)  
> 

Bitterblue:  
Raining. It was raining, but not anymore. The air was thick and humid and a smoky haze floated around Bitterblue’s feet. She stumbled down a long twisting maze of dark alleyways. The sky was a dark blue but there weren’t any stars in her sight.  
Bitterblue knew that if she could just get out of the alley she could see the stars. She couldn’t see very well though. The dark alleyway was so misted over that she couldn’t see where she stepped.  
She mumbled softly, she couldn’t hear what she was saying though. Was she saying anything at all? Or was that the sound of the water droplets collecting in the gutter, falling from the slanted rooftops above her.  
The roof. If she could get to the roof she could get to see the stars. It was so important that she see the stars. She wanted to climb up the to the rooftops from where she was in the alleyway but they were too high and she was so little. And alone. She couldn’t climb up all that way by herself.  
Suddenly she was in the main street. Was this really an improvement? Bitterblue didn’t know. She passed the empty shops and she was so confused. And cold. The stars could warm her up. She knew it. She knew that if she reached the stars she would be warm.  
And then she saw them. Stars. The ones that would guide them. They rested upon a young man’s face. Sandy hair. Purple eyes. Warm smile. He radiated heat and she was warm. She was safe. He called her name. But it wasn’t her name.  
“Sparks!”  
She laughed then. She threw back her head and laughed. When she opened her eyes she knew that she was surrounded by stars. They hung from the sky and from Saf’s face.  
Saf. They were on the roof then, they were safe. He held her hand. He held her. She closed her eyes. She was at home here as she hung in the stars.  
•••

Bitterblue woke up then. She felt slightly disoriented, as one usually does after having a strange dream. She usually didn’t like dreams that called figures in from her past. Figures that had left four years ago and had not responded since.  
But she didn’t mind that dream. A dream of safety. Home. She smiled then. She never noticed the fact that the pillow next to her was warm, even though nobody had slept there that night.

 

Saf:  
She was the only thing he could see. A candle in the night. But he couldn’t catch up. Bitterblue wandered the alleyways and he could do nothing but wait as the candle flickered in places and disappeared down other paths.  
He peered down the alleyway. The candle was growing brighter, but as Bitterblue got closer the street grew longer. The shops doubled and the juniper growing along the road filled in the spaces between them. Saf didn’t care. No matter how many obstacles blocked them he was determined to see that beautiful light.  
He pushed through the juniper and skidded around the lightless streetlamps. The shop windows showed no reflections. He wasn’t quite sure of himself when he couldn’t see properly.  
Then he saw her clearly. Her light lit up the shop windows around him When he glanced in them he could see his glowing freckles and his wet hair. He was sure of himself. He was Saf and he loved Bitterblue.  
“Sparks!” He called. She was so close. And suddenly they were together. Her laugh lit up the night and he grabbed her hand. He led her up the ladder to the rooftop. She wanted to see the sky. He didn’t blame her, everything wa alive with color and light now that they were together.  
He held her in his lap on the now dry rooftop. He watched her as she watched the sky until her eyes closed shut. Her cheeks were cold and alive with color. He held her and closed his eyes. He knew who he was. He could see. Bitterblue.  
•••

Saf awoke with a start. He sprang out of his cot gasping. A few others in his dorm sighed and shifted in their sleep. He looked out the window, it was still night. He settled back into his cot.  
That dream made him so happy, so happy that he realized how unhappy he was without Bitterblue. He was not at home here in the Dells. He wanted to go back. Back to his home. Back to Bitterblue.  
As he shifted and rolled over he didn’t notice the fading warmth in his hand. Warmth that only another hand holding his could’ve had caused. Even though he was alone in his cot.


	2. Birthday Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bitterblue didn't know why she thought she could keep her birthday a secret from Saf seeing as she was the queen of a kingdom...

Bitterblue had tried so, so, very hard. She had woken up hours earlier than usual, donning her warmest cloak, packing the needed provisions. She brought a book. She contacted her advisors through ciphered messages that she wouldn't be in the office. And she sneakily crept into the royal stables and got a good sturdy horse, then rode away into the warm summer morning air. It almost seemed too easy to get out. The guards at the gate gave her no trouble, except for their deep bows and their call of, "Happy Birthday Queen Bitterblue!" To her back.

She winced. She hated the attention that her birthday drew, the whole kingdom seemed to be in a ridiculous frenzy. Why? She never figured it out. Her birth wasn't that grand of an occasion, to her it just marked the end of another tiring year of hard work and the beginning of the next one. Plus, it was embarrassing. She recalled the horrendous parade Thiel had tried to organize a few years after her father's death. She smiled fondly, it had been quite the spectacle indeed. Flowers, graced singers belting out ballads dedicated to Bitterblue. Coins thrown on the streets, acrobats, a grand feast waiting at the end.

She hated every single thing about it. Those flowers just had to be picked up by some poor street cleaner afterwards, or be trotted on by horses, carts and people. Just to rot and die. Nobody liked her enough to write even a poem about her, much less a ballad. She was disgusted that those poor people had to throw their coins at her when she had enough coins to feed all of them all for a year. The acrobats seemed excessive, and at the feast everyone was too nervous to eat around her. But still she smiled and grabbed the flowers and coins and ate the meal and clapped at the performers. Just so Thiel wouldn't stress too much about her well being.

She missed Thiel, and regretted the fact that she didn't even know his birthday. She felt a warm prickly feeling in her eyes and smacked it away as her horse turned onto the mountain path. She could see a glow on the horizon for where the sun would be coming up soon. She looked behind her and took a deep breath in once she realized she was far enough away from the palace. She hoped the others wouldn't be too angry with her. It wasn't as if she was going anywhere unreachable. Just a little spot up in the mountains she started visiting in the past few years. 

All that she did was go up the main mountain road, take a sharp right and go straight for a bit. When she heard the sound of water she'd lead her horse to a small bubbling stream and tie him up near it. The stream came from a small opening in the ground that was a bit more elevated than the rest of the surrounding land and on the other side it took a deep downward slope into a field of wildflowers that Bitterblue never bothered to learn of. She loved to sit above it and gaze at the flowers, sometimes reading, eating or even working. The silence gave her a bit of relaxation from a job that was so terribly busy.

But this time she didn't escape into the quietness. Before she could even tie up the horse she heard laughter. Familiar laughter. Too familiar. She peeked out from behind a tree to see Bann, Raffin, Katsa, Po, Helda, Giddon and Saf, who had just recently returned from his travels in the Dells.

She cringed and before she could even sort out how to get out of the forest quietly she heard Helda's stern voice.

"Queen Bitterblue get yourself out from behind that tree or so hear me I will come and remove you myself."

Bitterblue didn't know if she should laugh or sigh. She stepped out from behind the tree.

"Silly of me to think I, the queen, should have some peace on my birthday." She said sourly, tying her horse to a tree. She realized now that there were several other horses grazing on the other side of the stream. She thought then of the guards at the gate and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Also silly of me to think that you, the spymaster, wouldn't have already known what I planned to do and where I planned to go." She looked up at the merry bunch.

"Silly of me to think that you would be grateful we came to see you!" Shouted Katsa playfully. She rolled down the hill and bounded to Bitterblue, picking her up and twirling around. "Happy birthday." She kissed her hair, making Bitterblue flush.

"Now why don't you come up and sit by us. Katsa you know very well that the plant you are standing next to posses the capability to give you a severe rash that can be spread to other people. I know that you are trying to make me nervous and it is working so get up here before I have to use Bann as a human shield." Raffin stated frantically.

Katsa laughed. "Yes Raffin." She grabbed Bitterblue and tossed her over her shoulder, carrying her to her friends. She plopped her down next to Saf who smiled at her coyly.

"Happy birthday Sparks." He spoke. She blushed then. "Thank you Saf." The two hadn't been the same since he came back. They made small talk and had a few playful moments but things had still been stiff and strange.

"I'm glad that you found this place Bitterblue." Po said, breaking the silence and laying his head into Katsa's lap. Helda was producing some sort of food form her satchel in the background. "It's quite calming." Katsa tickled him and soon enough they were wrestling.

"Calming indeed." Bann chuckled.

"Did you know that the wildflowers beyond this hill possess mysterious healing powers that no medicine person has ever really been able to pinpoint exactly what it heals or how?" Raffin chimed in.

"Now that must be just a myth." GIddon said. "I'm sure that with the right tests on the right patients they could figure something out! I could've. I had a patch of them at my old estate." He smiled sadly at Bitterblue. "You should've seen them, they were very large."

Raffin grunted and then began a quiet argument with Bann, presumably about beginning tests involving the wildflowers in question. Giddon pulled a small package out of his jacket pocket and handed it to bitterblue.

Bitterblue began unwrapping it, gently tugging at the dark blue ribbon. At the sound of the paper tearing Katsa and Po stopped their wrestling, Helda turned, Raffin and Bann quieted down and Saf looked up from his hands, where he had previously been staring.

"We all pitched in with ideas and specially ordered it." Katsa said softly. Bitterblue gasped. Lying in the wrinkled and torn paper was a silver hair pin with deep blue and emerald green diamonds lining the edges.

"You could stab a man with that." Katsa said flatly. Bitterblue laughed. "We got it because it's beautiful and strong. Just like you." Helda said.

"And small." Saf said. Everyone laughed. Po helped Bitterblue fasten it into her braid and then the group of friends shared a small meal Helda packed. Nothing special, just bread, meat and cheese. Bitterblue was surprised at how much pleasure this gathering had given her.

After the meal was over they started to stand up and leave.

"We'll leave you alone. We know that's what you wanted originally." Giddon said, patting Bitterblue on the shoulder.

She stood up and hugged them all. "Thank you all for this... I don't know how to thank you. I feel like such a horrible friend because I could never give you all something this wonderful." She gestured to the pin.

"No need. We're just happy to know you." Katsa smiled. "We'll be back at the palace and we can all have dinner tonight." And with that they turned, crunching through the grass, around Raffin's poisonous plant, and to their horses.

Bitterblue was about to turn and sit back in the grass. She heard the horses beginning to plod away and then suddenly turned back.

"Saf." She looked at him. Saf was the last to mount his horse and he was halfway in his saddle when she called.

"Yes?"

"You can stay, if you want." She muttered, looking at her shoes

For one terrifying moment she thought he was going to leave. But before she know it he was there beside her. The two sat together on the hill, facing the wildflowers, now glowing in the morning light. They sat there for awhile, on the dewy grass, above the flowers. And then, almost at the same time, they spoke.

"Why are things between us so-" He began

"I've missed you-" She finished.

They both blushed and turned.

"You missed me?" Saf asked, wonderingly.

"Yes." She blushed, focusing her eyes on the flowers. "You're so good to be around and I love you so much. As a friend and maybe more. Everyone is so serious and expects so much of me, but you're different. You know me as a friend." Her eyes felt prickly again. She wiped them and looked to the side. "Sorry."

It was silent for a moment and then Saf did something odd. He began to sing. 

"She is the moon and I am the earth. I'm alive in her light and awakened by her presence. When the clouds cover her face I know she is still there. My moon, my guide, my love, my light. I cannot be without her. I need her to be, whoever she is with or without me."

It was a short, simple tune. Rough, awkward and slippery at parts. But Saf knew how to carry a tune well. When it ended he looked at her, his face red as a cherry.

"I made that stupid song up when I was away. I thought about you when I sang it and whenever I felt alone I'd sing it and it was as if you were right there beside me."

Bitterblue didn't know what to say. She thought of the parade, all those ballads talking about her beauty and grace and her leadership. Some went for hours. But none could even be compared to the short little tune Saf had just sang to her.

Saf stoof then. "Bitterblue I-"

At that moment the equation of the dew, the hill and Saf's quick rise added up to him falling down the hill into the wildflowers.

"Saf!" Bitterblue cried, tumbling down herself. She landed on top of them and the two shared a wide eyed minute before bursting into laughter.

She hugged him tightly and kissed him, there in the flowers. Surrounded by the light, bugs and morning dew. Perhaps the flowers did have healing powers. She hummed the tune back to him and they spent the rest of the day there in that field.

Bitterblue was happy that she didn't spend her birthday alone after all.


	3. Spinning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She lifts him up... well technically it is the other way around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was inspired by a wonderful prompt that was made by wonderful tumblr user sherlocksbuttonhole (http://sherlocksbuttonhole.tumblr.com/) THANKS!!!  
> (Also sorry if this chapter is shorter!)

Saf's bones ached, his eyes ached, his legs and feet ached and most of all his rear end ached from riding his horse for so long. He wanted nothing more than to climb into bed. Any bed. He would've slept in a pile of cold mud at this point. His comrades looked about the same. They lost Skye long ago and he currently slept, snuggled up on the journey's captain's lap.

Saf snorted. He would've gladly traded positions with Skye except he had someone he needed to see. He closed his eyes and leaned forward on his horse. He felt weak. His stomach grumbled but it hurt to even think about food at this point. His clothes were muddy and wet. Spring was not ideal riding time, what with all the snow melting. And the journey from The Dells was a long and harsh one. Even when they traveled by tunnel.

The group made their way up a gentle hill, their horses making their way sluggishly through the slush. Once they reached the top of the hill they saw it. Bitterblue City. Saf almost cried with relief. The rest of the group seemed to be joyous as well. They let out deep content sighs, as if they had been holding their breath the whole time. The sight seemed to lift everyone's spirits, even the horses, and they broke out into a quick trot down the hill.

As they slid down the hill Saf kept his eyes on the palace. He couldn't wait to fall through the palace gates and greet Bitterblue. She would surely offer him a bed to stay in. He could always stay with Teddy and the others but with the addition of a few babies to the household he wasn't sure they'd have enough room for him. Plus he desperately wanted to see Bitterblue. He had missed her so much.

After what seemed like forever, they approached a tavern near the palace gates.

"Hey Saf, all of us are going to grab a quick meal before going home." The captain called as Saf rode ahead.

"I'll find you all tomorrow." Saf replied, turning around in his saddle. "I really need some rest."

The captain waved as they all dismounted. Saf's horse tore through the streets. He received quite a few angry stares and shouts from people. He stuck his tongue out at them. He supposed they had a right to be angry, he was running his horse through a crowded street in the middle of the day after all.

He didn't have much trouble getting into the courtyard after dropping his horse off at the stables. As he trudged into the courtyard he spotted her, almost immediately. The courtyard was full of people, yet nobody spoke to the young queen. She sat, facing away, on a stone bench. Her small frame almost invisible in the crowd. As he looked closer he saw that her head was in her hands. He didn't know if she was crying, sleeping or just plain upset, but obviously she had a tough day.

Just then someone approached her, documents in their hands. She looked up then, her face red and blotchy. But she masked her emotions well. Laughing and smiling. She signed the documents and then turned back to where she sat as the person moved away.

If Bitterblue could be strong he could too. He tiptoed across the courtyard and made his way to her bench. He loomed over her for a still moment. Before she could turn around to inquire who was standing behind her he grabbed her around the waist. She was about to scream when she saw who it was.

"Sa-?" She couldn't finish.

Saf picked her up off the bench with ease and proceeded to hug her close and twirl her around the courtyard. She shrieked and hugged him back.

It was quite a spectacle, the giant thief swinging the tiny queen around by her middle. A few stopped to stare but those accustomed to the castle and its subjects turned away with bored expressions.

Bitterblue's laughter strengthened Saf and he felt his fatigue gone. He spun around once more before hugging her close.

"Saf! How are you? Surely you must be exhausted!" She said, still smiling.

"I'm fine now that I've heard you laughing." He smiled at her. "So how've you been?"

His heart was spinning.


End file.
